New Integrase Inhibitor: Dolutegravir Results in People With Raltegravir Resistance

Although raltegravir generally worked well in people with multiple drug resistance, especially when supported by new drugs like darunavir/r and etravirine in the background combinations, some people still developed integrase inhibitor resistance. These were generally people with few other treatment options who are now waiting for new drugs.

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Joe Eron from University of Carolina presented results from a second open-label phase 2b study of dolutegravir in people with raltegravir resistance.1

The dose-response rates from the initial use of a 50 mg once-daily dose of dolutegravir supported increasing the dose to 50 mg twice-daily for this second cohort of experienced patients.

The 50 mg twice-daily results included 24 people who added dolutegravir to their failing combination for 11 days (and dropped raltegravir if they were still taking it). To be included in the study people needed to have at least one additional drug that would be active, and this was added to dolutegravir on day 11 when the background combination was optimised, based on resistance test results.

Nearly all patients (23 out of 24) either reduced their viral load to less than 400 copies/mL or by at least 0.7 logs. The average (mean) drop in viral load at day 11 was -1.76 logs (SD 0.54) for study as a whole and -1.57 for people with integrase mutations (Q148 + others). This compared to -1.45 logs seen in the initial 50 mg once-daily study.

Safety data was available for a median 96 days (range 30-172) mainly included common grade 1 or 2 gastrointestinal events not related to dolutegravir. Grade 3 laboratory abnormalities were reported in 4 people (17%) with no discontinuations. One participant had two serious events judged unrelated to the study drug (demyelinating polyneuropathy and diabetes mellitus). No grade 4 events were reported.

The 50mg twice-daily dose has now been selected for phase 3 studies in people who have integrase inhibitor resistance to raltegravir or elvitegravir.

An Oral Entry Inhibitor From BMS

The entry inhibitor in development from Bristol-Myers Squibb called BMS-663068 (BMS-068) is a prodrug of BMS-626529, active against gp120.

Richard Nettles from BMS reported results from a randomised open-label proof of concept study using BMS-068, in 50 people who were either antiretroviral naive (n=34) or experienced but off treatment for the previous eight weeks (n=16). Pharmacodynamic data was presented for 39 patients with an eligible IC50 <0.1µM.2

The study used five dose combinations using BMS 068 1200mg once-daily and either 600mg or 1200 mg twice-daily, with and without ritonavir boosting. Baseline demographics included median (range): CD4 432 cells/mm3 (206-921); viral load 4.4 log copies/mL (3.3-6.1); age 42 years (20-70).

After eight days most doses had reduced viral load by 1.6 logs (ranging from -1.22 to -1.78 in the intent to treat and -1.59 to -1.77 in the pharmacodynamic analysis). CD4 cell increases ranged from +28 to +106 after 8 days. All patients with an eligible IC50 achieved viral load reductions of at least 1 log.

All adverse events were grade 1 or 2 and were similar in each arm (though there was not a control arm). The most frequent side effects included headache (22/50, 44%) and rash (8/50, 16%), mostly mild. There were no drug discontinuations.

Detailed results were also available in a separate poster which is available online.3

Drug levels suggested that ritonavir boosting may not be needed and phase 2b trials in treatment-experienced patients are planned to start later this year.

This article was provided by HIV i-Base. It is a part of the publication HIV Treatment Bulletin. Visit HIV i-Base's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.

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